John Tavares converted a 5-on-3 for his first goal of the season (and first of two on the night), and it proved to be the winning tally as the Islanders pounded the Phoenix Coyotes 6-1 before 10,288 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Peter Regin and Matt Donovan each scored their first goals in an Islander jersey while Colin McDonald and Josh Bailey each added their first goals of the season as the Isles earned their most one-sided Coliseum win in 32 months.

The one-sided win ends a streak of six regular season games having been decided by one goal – including five in shootouts … Tavares’ goals were his 113th and 114th as an Islander, retaking the club lead among current players (Matt Moulson has 113); it was the 20th multi-goal game of his career … Frans Nielsen had three assists, giving him 201 career points; Nielsen now has 140 assists, retaking the club lead among current players (John Tavares has 139) … Michael Grabner recorded three assists in a game for the first time in his career … Peter Regin and Matt Donovan are the 329th and 330th players to ever score a goal for the Islanders; Brock Nelson earned his first career point with an assist on Regin’s goal … The Isles have outscored their opponents 6-2 in the second period … The Isles are 10-1-5 in their last sixteen regular season games.

First Times in a Long Time (x 6)

• The Isles’ 2-0-1 start gives them at least five points in the first three games for the first time since they were 3-0-0 (en route to a 4-0-0 and 9-0-1-1 start) in 2001-02.

• The Isles are 11 games over .500 all-time for the first time since November 4, 2010.

• The Isles’ 6-1 win marked their most one-sided home victory since their famous 9-3 victory over Pittsburgh on February 11, 2011.

• Peter Regin’s goal was his first since December 13, 2011 (for Ottawa, at Buffalo). It was his 20th career goal.

• The Isles are over .500 at home (1-0-1) for the first time since March 4, 2012.

• Three Islanders each had three points (Grabner, Bailey, Nielsen). It’s the first time since January 10, 2012 vs. Detroit (Tavares, Moulson, and Streit) that the Isles have had three players with at least three points in the same game.

The Shots:

Isles 6-14- 8=28

Coyotes 7-17-10=34

Home and Road

The Islanders are 2-0-1 overall, 1-0-1 at home and 1-0-0 on the road.

The Coyotes are 1-2-0 overall, 1-0-0 at home and 0-2-0 on the road.

In the Nets

Evgeni Nabokov made 33 saves to improve to 2-0-1 on the season. Nabokov lowered his goals against average to 1.89. Nabokov is 23-13-5 in his career against Phoenix.

Mike Smith made 15 saves for Phoenix over two periods but falls to 3-1-0 against the Isles. Thomas Greiss made his Coyotes debut in the third period and finished with seven saves.

Power Plays

The Islanders were 2-for-6 while the Coyotes were 0-for-3. The first power play goal came on a 5-on-3; the Isles scored only two 5-on-3 goals all last season.

The Isles are 1-0-1 when they score at least one power play goal and 1-0-0 when they do not.

The Isles are 0-0-1 when they allow at least one power play goal and 2-0-0 when they do not.

Second to The One

Jack Capuano now ranks second on the Islanders all-time list in both games coached (198) and wins (86). He will coach his 200th game on Saturday in Nashville.

Most wins by Islander coaches:

1. Al Arbour 740

2. Jack Capuano 86

3. Terry Simpson 81

4. Peter Laviolette 77

5. Ted Nolan 74

Most games coached (Islanders):

1. Al Arbour 1,500

2. Jack Capuano 198

3. Mike Milbury 191

4. Terry Simpson 187

5. Scott Gordon 181

They Said It

Matt Donovan: "Unbelievable feeling…I'm sure I have a lot of texts from a lot of family and friends that are excited for me that watched the game back home. It's a good feeling. Kids grow up hoping and wishing for that day to come that you score your first NHL goal, and it's a pretty cool feeling."

They Tweeted It

@Harry4naris it was an engaged crowd, sections between the goal lines were full, more games like this = bigger crowds

The Coach

"That's how we want to play. We want to play fast. That's the style this team wants to play. I sensed the attitude and the positivity on the bench with our guys. We want to keep pushing against a good hockey team. I thought we did that."

Head of the Class

John Tavares has 253 career points; he is 62 points ahead of Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks. No other player in that draft is anywhere close. Tavares also has more goals and more assists than any other player in that draft.

119 NHL Goals

Moulson has 119 career goals (113 as an Islander). While 262 players were selected before the Penguins chose Moulson in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, only 16 have more goals.

Leading Ice Men

Andrew MacDonald played 23:25 to lead the Isles for the third straight game. Oliver Ekman-Larsson led Phoenix with 23:27.

The Isles are 2-0-1 when MacDonald leads them in ice-time.

In the Circle

The Islanders won 29-of-56 draws. Peter Regin won 9-of-13 to lead the Isles while Mike Ribiero won 7-of-12 for Phoenix. The Isles won 24-of-39 draws over the first two periods, but only 5-of-17 in the third period.

Heavy Hitters

The Islanders were out-hit 34-15, including an unusual 15-1 in the second period. Casey Cizikas led the Isles with five hits. There were no fights.

Giving Up the Body

The Isles were credited with seven blocked shots; Travis Hamonic (with two) was the only Islander to block more than one.

All–time Winners

The Islanders are now 11 games over .500 all-time (1373-1362-440 in 3,175 games). The Isles have finished every season since 1977-78 above .500 all-time.

Ironmen

John Tavares is the reigning Islanders’ ironman. Tavares has now played in 210 consecutive games.

The Isles lead the season series one game to none (and two points to none) with one game to play. The teams will also play on December 12 in Glendale.

The Isles are 3-0-1 in their last four games at the Coliseum vs. Phoenix and are 5-2-3 against the Coyotes on Long Island since the original Winnipeg Jets relocated to the desert. The six goals were the most the Isles have scored against Phoenix since an 8-2 win over the ‘Yotes on December 10, 1996.

Happy Anniversary

30 years ago tonight (10-7-83): Bob Bourne scored a power play goal 2:01 into overtime as the Islanders rallied from a 5-1 deficit for an 8-7 win over the Capitals in Landover, MD. It was the first overtime goal scored in a regular season NHL game since 1942, when overtime had been eliminated due to war time restrictions.

All-time, the Isles are 5-5-2 on this date, including a 1-1 tie in Kansas City in 1975 in Bryan Trottier’s NHL debut.

On The Farm

Bridgeport split a pair of games to open their season. Andrey Pedan and Ryan Strome each have earned three points to share the scoring lead, while Anders Nilsson is 1-1-0 with a 3.84 GAA in nets. Bridgeport hosts Manchester (Saturday at 7:00) and Springfield (Sunday at 3:00) this weekend.

Up Next

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11—ISLANDERS AT CHICAGO 8:00PM

[MSG+ (Islanders pre-game at 7:30pm), 88.7 WRHU-FM, 103.9 WRCN-FM]

The Islanders head to Chicago to face the Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks on Friday night as they begin a two-game round trip. It will be the first time that the Isles have faced a reigning champion since they faced Boston on March 31, 2012.

This is the first of two meetings between the teams, who have not played since facing each other twice in a one week period in December, 2011. The Hawks defeated the Isles in a shootout on December 2 and then defeated the Isles in overtime six nights later.

The Isles are 6-1-2 in their last nine games against Chicago, including 3-1-1 in their last five visits to the Windy City.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in “The Skinny” has been gathered from various sources. Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter.